Test of physical security, requiring you to infiltrate a facility in Manhattan

72 hour window, starting at midnight local time

Must complete a data steal and hardware theft in that time

Details:

Target is Scientia Labs: Fifth Floor, 811 Tenth Avenue, at the corner of 10th Ave and W 53rd Street. There are four components to the test; each part is critical to our success.

As much of the data (in both nexus files and optical chips) relating to “Project Paracelsus” must be removed from the Scientia Labs facility and systems as possible;

A set of internal wiring (diagram below) must be rerouted;

A particular nexus system must be removed from the “Project Paracelsus” labs in working order;

You must evade detection by security, exploiting any and all gaps in sensor coverage. A report will be required.

As this is a live test, an independent company has been hired to work security for the duration. They will be equipped with non-lethal armaments, and you are forbidden from using lethal force during this exercise.

Entry:

Access will be via a Hermes delivery van labelled for Johan’s Secure Deliveries. This will provide entry and egress via the Bronx.

SCIENTIALABS:

Independent research firm subcontracting work for multiple corporations;

Staking out the Scientia Labs building, you followed the SUV carrying the five Project Paracelsus security staff (one troll officer, one human spider, three human guards) to a Charisma Associates facility, where they all went their separate ways. You then followed the spider to Staten Island, where she lived with an elf male (who left the house shortly after her arrival at about 8.45am). Oxana restrained the spider as she slept and Solana questioned her with the Mako’s help.

You were able to establish that the cameras on Floor 5 don’t cover large part of the labs, but the open areas are well covered (as are doors of each floor). As the spider, she has access to Ferret drones (armed with tasers), and a rail-mounted Ares Sentinel drone system (also armed with a taser).

Asking about other team members revealed the following:

Lt. Crispin (troll) is firm but fair

Chavez is the hardass

Rico is coming up to retirement

Estelle is focused on promotion

Main weaknesses of the electronic security is that a jammer would blind them, whereas the metahuman security guards are limited to tasers. Project Paracelsus is the project in the 5th floor lab but the spider didn’t know where the data is stored. (Virtual Research) Lab is the largest floorspace, there’s also a smaller regular lab near cubicles (next to lift) which has the nexus system (near the electrical substation).

Changeover is 60 minutes with all security staff in meeting room, and the overall security is weakest during or just before shift change.

Summary after flying from sunny Cairo to cold as hell Manhattan I was introduced to the people I’d be working with; early days but they seem competent enough. Marshall, the tech support, might have a problem saying no – that could be a problem.

We did some basic recon work, Solana good here with her wizard sight and spirit walking, and tracked their spider to her lair. Security and lab techs are all actors, which has strengths and weaknesses, but it seems like we should get by okay as long as they remember their lines. Oxana is really strong, especially for an elf.

Thoughts for entry and approach enter at or just before 7 (as soon as delivery will be accepted) and gain access to the labs. Research lab near the elevator has the target nexus system but both labs may have other nexus systems and optical chips so will need to be systematically searched.

Internal wiring will need to be dealt with, probably whilst Oxana or Solana are recovering the target nexus system.

Deploying a jammer near the meeting room which contains the security will be useful if things go sideways and we need to take physical action, but stealth should see us through as an hour is a really big window.

We should aim to be in and out as quickly as possible, ideally within 10 or 15 minutes. Having Marshall take over the security systems as we enter, when the Spider in the meeting room, should give us extra eyes and mean we leave no trace.

Introductions and Recon

Recon

I went in to the building astrally, in order to pick up numbers of guards and guard routines. There are five on shift, two sat in offices (one seems to be a spider) and three patrolling. The Mako and Oxana watched physically from vantage points.

In order to find points of weakness, we asked Marshall to find any staff who had left under a cloud. Once he had done this I travelled in the astral to check them out. One address was a blind, but the others contained various people, some with children.

We decided to try one of the current staff as a point of information and so staked out the building until after shift change, when we followed the SUV containing all the security staff. This returned to Charisma Associates where the actor/guards got into their own cars.

We followed the Spider home, waited until her partner left and then secured her. Oxana kept her still while I obtained a series of answers from her (while checking her truthfulness) and then changing her memory before leaving.

Information Summary

There are five guards on at any time (Lieutenant, Spider and three grunts), except at changeover, where both teams are on site for an hour (in the meeting room). This is a major point of security weakness.

The cameras cover the corridors and access doors, but not all of the labs. There are multiple drones (one Sentinel and multiple Ferrets), all armed with tasers. We could blind the system with a jammer, and the guards are only packing tasers.

Workers are in 8-6, but are also all actors. She didn’t know where any data is stored.

Current Situation

We require more information before moving, but a basic plan of gaining access during shift change by delivering a parcel, and removing the data then should be decent.

Future Actions

We need to physically enter the building and watch security in order to finalise our plan.

Following on from the previous session, Solana (in a disguise provided by the Mako) delivered one small parcel to the Project Paracelsus floor of Scientia Labs at 7am. This went smoothly, and allowed the team to establish that the guard at the entrance to the car park was only really interested in whether the vehicle had the appropriate paperwork (which it did). She also took the opportunity of a trip to the toilet (escorted by one of the Paracelsus actors/guards) to scout out some key locations.

At 3pm, Oxana did the same trick, this time with Marshall “riding shotgun.” Marshall hacked the car park guard’s cybereyes to establish that he had to authorise the lift to go up to the relevant floor. Other evidence seemed to show that there wasn’t much followup from that. Likewise, Solana’s astral scouting showed that some sort of signal was given to the guards during their briefing when the lift was en route so one of them could come out to receive the delivery.

So, at 7am the next morning (31 hours into their allotted time for the job) both Tui and Oxana made a delivery of all of the other boxes, with Solana accompanying them invisibly. They had also prepared some packing boxes, and gotten Marshall to forge the relevant documentation for the team to collect some parcels also.

Once the boxes were unloaded, Solana used magic to rewrite the guard’s memory so he recalled the team leaving, and then went through the various cubicles and office spaces to recover optical chips. Oxana recovered two nexi from the Virtual Research Lab, whilst Tui found a third nexus and performed the rewiring task (connecting together two isolated networks) in the other lab. As the team were approaching the lift to leave, they heard a huge explosion and part of the floor collapsed (on the other side of the labs). They were able to hear screams and gunfire below, and Tui’s radar senses picked up a metallic humanoid advancing up the newly-created ramp onto Floor 5.

As the guards poured out of their room, the team piled into the lift and fled downstairs. Marshall – connected to the Paracelsus security net via a wireless adapter placed there by the Mako – reported that battle was about to be joined upstairs. Solana asked him to instruct the Paracelsus guards that this was not a drill and to stand down, which saved them from a confrontation that would likely have resulted in their deaths.

The team were considering returning upstairs to help in the combat when they realised that the security shutters in the car park were coming down. They decided to all get in the van and narrowly escaped, scraping some of the paintwork off their vehicle’s roof. En route, they were flagged down by a Knight Errant gunship. The team complied with the loudhailered request to pull over and submitted to a vehicle search by two armed troopers. They asked questions referring to the theft of a drone from Scientia Labs and were satisfied that the team didn’t have it, and thus left.

The team then dropped their vehicle and stolen goods back in Brooklyn, and returned to Manhattan for a debriefing at Aegis Cognito headquarters. CO was very pleased with the team, and offered her congratulations.

Public report:

Summary:

Entry made through goods entrance under guise of delivery of parcels during 0700-0800 security vulnerable window on morning 2

Parcels delivered, guard confounded through magics and returned to meeting

All optical chips and nexi removed, wiring re-routed as instructed

Exit prevented from being clean due to assault on floor below, however, extraction made without undue distress being caused or mission parameters being breached

Full Report:

Entry made at 0705 with Oxana and I doing a delivery and Solana accompanying us invisibly. After logging the parcels the guard was convinced through mind altering magic that everything was in order and returned to her meeting.

I inserted a bug into the system to allow Marshall access then we each took an area to search, removing all optical chips and nexi as per instructions. As we were making our exit there was an explosion from the lab on the floor below. At that point I discharged two flash-bang mini-grenades to suppress the security who were exiting their briefing room.

My internal radar showed a metallic humanoid figure climb from the floor below using the collapsed floor as a ramp. Solana instructed Marshall to order the security to stand down as we descended in the elevator.

Loading the van with the boxes, filled with the computing equipment, we made an exit – narrowly avoiding the security lock down.

Some short while later a Knight Errant security Great Dragon helicopter in gunship/ground support layout pulled us over. At this stage all weapons were again concealed within the hidden compartments within the van and after a check of the vehicle we were allowed to proceed; it was clear that the security patrol were seeking a missing drone.

The cargo, along with the vehicle and issued equipment, was returned as instructed before returning for debriefing

Recommendations:

Weapons should be adjusted for use in, under and after water

Modifying normal weapons for underwater use comes at a price: the weapon’s range is halved in all circumstances, and it also needs extensive service after firing 100 rounds. It requires electronic firing and cannot be combined with the additional clip, ammo skip system, extended clip, gas-vent system, or silencer/sound/thermal suppressor mods.

What modifications are needed to allow weapons to be completely submerged and then successfully fired?

Extreme Environmental Modification (upper tier) is needed, but has the deleterious effects on performance as described.

Recon and data extraction.

Recon

7am – I went in (disguised by the Mako) and took the parcel to the fifth floor. The guard is uninterested in checking anything more about the van than paint job and it broadcasting the right transponder signal (and that’s an assumption). Lift only grants access to the relevant floor, and guards seem to be unsurprised to see someone arriving. I used this opportunity to use the toilet, gaining more information about which labs were where.

3pm – Oxana went in, under disguise. Marshall and I went along in the Matrix and Astral. Downstairs guard sends a message to the lift to come, and with an attached floor number, Marshall believes this also sends a message to that floor. One guard comes out of the meeting room and takes delivery, before heading back in once he has seen the lift doors closing.

Issues

Guard downstairs becoming suspicious of how long we are taking, and that we are removing items.

Guard upstairs will want to see us in the lift and will alert the others if we don’t leave, his absence would also be a problem as it would alert the rest of the guards.

Solutions

We will deliver all the parcels we have (to explain why we might be up there longer than expected) and Marshall will provide us with delivery dockets from the building to cover the items we are removing.

I will alter the guard’s memory once we have access to the floor, so he remembers us leaving and will return to the meeting room.

Plan

Gather packaging materials and documentation, store in van.

Deliver packages to the building (Solana invisible).

Rewrite the guard’s memory so he returns to the meeting room.

Plug a wireless adaptor into the security systems to allow Marshall access.

Marshall will then remove all traces of us on the security system.

The Mako will rewire the wiring, and search the Research Lab.

Oxana will search the Virtual Research Lab.

I will search the cubicles and offices.

We will reconvene at the lift and return to the parking garage.

We will drive back to drop off the recovered material.

Debrief

The situation went exactly as we had planned (bar a little reorganisation – I found the security point while the parcels were unloaded and then the Mako plugged in the adaptor while I dealt with the guard) until we reconvened.

At this point there was an explosion from the floor below and the sound of gunfire. The Mako was able to tell that there was a humanoid drone advancing upwards to our floor. The guards ran out of the meeting room, and the Mako suppressed them as we took the opportunity to get into the lift.

I asked Marshall to get the guards to stand down, as this was not the drill they were expecting. I was concerned that they would die needlessly, as they didn’t have the requisite ammunition to deal with a drone.

In the parking lot both Oxana and the Mako were considering returning, I felt we had done enough under our job parameters and needed to leave. As the shutters were coming down the other two agreed to leave, and we only just made it out in time. A few blocks away we were stopped by Knight Errant and quizzed about a stolen drone. As we were all in order and appeared to be what we were pretending to be, they let us go fairly easily.

We then dropped off our recovered items (3 Nexi and 19 optical chips of unknown content, plus 4 optical chips labelled Project Paracelsus) to the parcel company and returned for debrief.

January 2073

The magical community is very excited about a recent proliferation of ancient artefacts which are being begged, borrowed and stolen by and from the various major players in the field of arcanoarchaeology

The global economy grew very slightly over 2072

Online demonstrators crash the Corporate Court’s public node on the second anniversary of their rejection of the Artificial Intelligence Accords

You are to sabotage the guidance system of the automated high-speed freight train as it travels from Nairobi International Aerospaceport to the AresSpace depot at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro. You must leave a Maasai tribal mask (provided by the client) in the wreckage where it can be found. Note that it has been enchanted so that it cannot be destroyed or lost in the collision.

Entry:

Commercial flight from OR Tambo International to Nairobi International Aerospaceport. Retrieve your gear from baggage reclaim.

Notes:

Local currency is the shilling. 1¥=20sh

Mount Kilimanjaro is the site of the mass driver, directly adjacent to the AresSpace depot

Each isotainer has access hatches on the front, back, top and bottom, secured with a Rating 3 maglock card reader, and a hidden camera with thermographic enhancement inside each container.

Its cargo typically contains construction materials for the constantly expanding mass driver facility as well as whatever is needed up the well in orbit.

All of the goods inside the isotainers are tagged with RFID tracking devices. On the outside of the train, every five cars or so, an Ares Sentinel “R” series rail drone mounted on a track above the containers, able to slide up and down the train. The gun can cover the air above the train and can also move to the front, rear, and either side of the train. The drones are equipped with belt-fed Ares MP and tracer rounds.

Train must be sabotaged near the end of its run, but it runs four times a day and there is (within reason) no time limit. It travels at 200kph for the entire route and does not stop between the two points.